Hootsla (Egg Bread) Recipe
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This Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast dish is a bit quirky, really filling, and super simple. Top it with a drizzle of maple syrup or some cinnamon sugar.
This recipe was featured as part of our Cold-Weather Comfort Food Menu.
INGREDIENTS
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
- 1 day-old sweet baguette, sliced into 1-inch cubes (about 8 to 9 cups)
- Cinnamon Sugar or maple syrup, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Whisk eggs, milk, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth; set aside.
- Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When butter foams, add bread and fry, stirring frequently, until golden brown and toasted on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat and pour egg mixture over bread. Stir until bread is coated, then return the pan to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until egg is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately with cinnamon sugar or maple syrup.
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Too much butter! (For myself at least) This just sounds like a stirfried version of french toast- I would try it, just sans the butter.
hey berkshire tsarina. another bread you could use if your local supermarket carries it is those pies tins of hawaiin bread. i imagine that you would get the same effect. sometimes (before i even looked at this recipe) i would cut out a chunk; just fry it slightly in little butter and serve it with syrup and eggs on the side. it tastes to me exactly like if you took the time to make french toast.
For those confused by sweet bagette, most grocery store bakeries make sweet french bread or italian bread which is in a loaf but not quite as crusty as sourdough bread. This will work as a sweet bagette.
And I think the version with bacon sounds very PD, or at least German. My German mother cooked everything in bacon grease. We kept bacon drippings in a container on the stove. German olive oil! Her family were all tall rangy farmers who lived forever, guess they burned off the fat
I have some trouble imagining the Pennsylvania Dutch using a sweet baguette. More likely it would stale home made bread, a high top loaf baked in a 9 x 4 loaf pan.
Wow! I have been making "French toast" this way because I thought it was so much easier and better than classic French toast, and I thought I made it up myself. My version is not exactly the same, but the principle is the same. And I confess that I use regular white sandwich bread, nothing fancy, torn into pieces. I've found that when I use bread that has been in the freezer, it comes out extra light and fluffy, I guess because of the moisture that is formed in the bread after being in the freezer. If anyone is wondering whether they should try this recipe, I say, absolutely. It produces wonderful, light, crisp, golden buttery French toast bites.
Cut bacon strips in one-inch pieces, and pan fry to crisp; add the bread cubes or tear bread in chunks and fry in pan with bacon and bacon grease to brown the bread; pour egg-milk mixture over all and continue as in the recipe... sometimes, I omit the milk and just stir in whole eggs to coat the mixture and cook. What flavor! It's not pretty but I love the taste.
@Chandler84.....
"*magic hands* 'HOOTSLA, BABY!'"
That made me laugh so suddenly and so hard that I inhaled a peanut and coughed for ten minutes. Funniest post I've read in weeks!
you could try making it with day old egg bread otherwise known as challah. i use it in french toast and bread pudding and its delicious.
OMG!! This brought a ton of memories flooding back.
My dad, who would be 98 if he were still alive, became quite the cook in his later years & drove my mother crazy with his predeliction for odd foods. His PA German heritage led him to this dish & a near obsession with it. Every Sunday for months he made it, forever tweaking. We grew to HATE it. Hootsla, NOT AGAIN!!! I always thought he made the name up because that was his style. Who knew.
My word - this sounds delicious!
But I too, haven't heard of a sweet baquette...."
" try sweet batard, ciabbata, or anything else labeled "French bread."
do you mean a regular loaf of crusty bread?
BerkshireTsarina: You could also make the recipe using any other plain artisanal bread -- try sweet batard, ciabbata, or anything else labeled "French bread."
Aidam, I don't think there are any such around here, everything seems to be sourdough. But thanks for the explanation, I can at least be on the lookout. Recipe sounds intriguing.
BerkshireTsarina: A sweet baguette is a French baguette (as opposed to a sourdough baguette).
What is a sweet baguette?
Mmmm...it's like french toast bites... HOOTSLA!
Wife: "Hey Honey, what's for breakfast",
Husband: *magic hands* "HOOTSLA, BABY!"